If you or someone you love have suffered a stroke and been forced
into disability, a new breakthrough made by doctors at Tel Aviv
University appears to offer hope for a “significant” level of recovery
in the near future.

Clinical trials conducted by Dr. Shai Efrati found that sitting
inside a pressurized chamber pumped full of oxygen-rich air, 90 minutes a
day, five days a week for two months, caused the brains of post-stroke
patients to exhibit fresh neurological activity in areas thought to be
rendered useless.

It works by pumping up the blood oxygen level of stroke patients tenfold, researchers explained in a study published Wednesday by scientific journal PLoS One.
Each of the patients selected for the trial had suffered a stroke
within 36 months of the treatment, and all of them had at least one
motor function impairment as a result.

“We
found that the neurological functions and life quality of all patients
in both groups were significantly improved following the HBOT
(hyperbaric oxygen therapy) sessions” versus a control group who were
forced to wait two months before undergoing the therapy, researchers
wrote.

“It is now understood that many brain disorders are related to inefficient energy supply to the brain,” Dr. Efrati explained in an advisory.
“HBOT treatment could right such metabolic abnormalities before the
onset of full dementia, where there is still potential for recovery.”

There were some mild side effects, however: some patients reported
having pain in their ears due to the pressurization. Two of the randomly
selected patients with a history of seizures also “had mild episodes of
convulsion,” the study noted, although they all maintained
consciousness. A separate study published last September by PLoS One
also claimed that brains might be able to be trained to survive strokes
by forcing the steady acclimation to brief exposures to low pressure
environments with low oxygen levels.

That environment triggered a medical condition called hypoxia in a
set of test rats, depriving their organs of the minimum amount of oxygen
needed to survive — and amazingly their bodies responded by sprouting
fresh capillaries throughout their brains, increasing oxygen levels by
30 percent once they were done with therapy and back in a normal
pressure environment. Researchers then examined MRI scans of the rats
that had adapted to hypoxia and found a 52 percent reduction in brain
lesion volume The Centers for Disease Control says
that each year nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke, and about
130,000 die from it. Strokes are are also the leading cause of long-term
disability among adults, and about 34 percent of those who suffer
strokes are under 65 years old.
Taken together, these two discoveries point to a very hopeful future for stroke patients’ chances of recovery.
——Photo: Shutterstock.com.